In order to remain successful, many industries produce multiple versions of consumer goods. If the customer cannot select different versions of consumer goods to suit his or her needs, then the customer will find alternative, producers of a similar product with more options. Therefore, it is in the best interests of producers of consumer goods to constantly strive to produce these multiple versions of consumer goods to satisfy a wide range of customers.
One example of this is the welding process in an assembly plant where the process is capable of producing a multitude of vehicle bodies on one assembly line. This allows different customers to customize the body style of the vehicle they have ordered to meet their preferences. Unfortunately, in many cases, each version of a vehicle may require different sheet metal parts. Because of this, occasionally, one version of a vehicle may end up with parts from a different, incompatible version. (for example, while there is no such thing as a two seat Navigator, it is possible to assemble the wrong sheet metal parts and produce a two seat Navigator, which in turn can only be scraped.).
In the past, a body shop would produce different versions of vehicle bodies and tell the assembly plant what they had built. This made the facility very large. In order to reduce the size of body shop facilities, a body shop must now build vehicles in approximately the order they are needed. To insure that the correct parts are used for each version of vehicle body an operator manually verifies each part. Unfortunately, errors occasionally arise.
The disadvantages associated with conventional body shop component selection techniques have made it apparent that a new technique for error proofing body shop component selection is needed. The new technique should be able to automatically determine if the correct sheet metal parts have been selected. The new technique should also reduce the number of scrap bodies caused by human error.